dimanche 4 Mar 2007, 16h38m

So last saturday I went to a Jack's Mannequin show at the Electric Factory in Philly. I can't even express how much it meant to me. I have always admired Andrew McMahon's very contemporary (in a poetic kind of way) writing style that I myself try to dabble in. Well, at the show I was able to meet him and it seems so odd to say, but I feel like I haven't been the same since. During the show I was front row and center, up against the barricade, being crushed by throngs of people who love him and his music just as much as I do, yet I still felt different. From where I was standing and from how his piano was situated, I was in his line of vision and seeing him looked down on the sea of raised fists before him, I made contact with his eyes and felt like I finally could get over the mental block that's been fucking up my writing for months. It gave me chills. Catching the setlist at the end of the show was a sign to me that I wouldn't be the same when I left that venue. The show moved me to the point of immense motivation and inspiration, hoping that I could effect somebody with my poetry even in a fraction of the way he moved me with his. Jack's and Something Corporate were incredible before, but they mean so much more than I ever thought a band could. My wall of writer's blocks has been taken down and for that I am forever grateful. The only thing that really keeps me up at night now (aside from the scribbiling of my pen against the paper next to my pillow) is the unfullfilled thank you I wish I could give to him. It's completely corny and drenched in melodramatics, but all I want is to just thank Andrew for writing songs that move me. Writing lyrics that mean more to me than anything I've ever read before. Writing words that keep this 21 year old up till 4 am at night, trying to create anything remotely worthwhiled. I hope one day I can let him know how those cramped, sweaty two hours in Philadelphia really sparked something in me. A flame I doubt will go out as long as I have these headphones to remind me of how great life can feel sometimes.